


pale.

by saccharineSerenade (solsticeScriptures)



Series: songfics [1]
Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Character Death, Do not be turned off by the 'character death' tag, Explosions, Gen, It isn't permanent, My friend wanted me to tag 'Michael Bay film' but I went with explosions, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 12:18:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9234692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solsticeScriptures/pseuds/saccharineSerenade
Summary: you never feel right, long nightsfollowing into the daypale as the street light, pure whitewashing the color awaywhen you constantly think back on the past, you can't help but wonder"what if it didn't go that way?"[songfic based off 'pale' by the birthday massacre]





	

**Author's Note:**

> hey! i was. originally gonna work on masterpiece theatres but then i felt motivated to write something else and then writing THAT failed so i wrote this and my usual beta is probably dead at school or something via exhaustion so i had to get my other friend to help me out. hey skep, thanks for helping me out here.
> 
> i'm. really not sure what to think of this, tbh. i just hope that someone out there likes it as much as i did when i was frantically trying to finish writing this before heading out for dinner.
> 
> here's the link to [pale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX1OfE5DPAQ) (aka the song i based this off, sorta) and the [lyrics](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/birthdaymassacre/pale.html) if you don't wanna listen to the song :0 (though i highly recommend listening to the song!)

The chair bounced off the red metal of the giant robot uselessly, and in a way, he did sort of know that it wasn’t like the chair was anything special. It was just the only thing he managed to find that could work as a distraction, but then again, it wasn’t like it was actually going to stop Tord.

Tord. That gun-happy communist maniac. The guy who turned out to be on a wanted poster, and secretly kept a _giant robot_ under their house. For how long, he didn’t know. No one knew.

So as the robot jumped up, hovering in the sky with Tord screaming out for him to shut up as the giant arm shifted into a rocket blaster, he braced himself, muttering a “Lame” underneath his breath.

Except it didn’t hit him.

Dust exploded around him, forcing him to cover his face with the help of his clothed arm, squeezing his lack-of-eyes shut. The air around him suddenly felt like it was on fire, way hotter than it was before. So when he couldn’t feel the dust and hot air whipping against him anymore, he dared to open his eyes, narrowed, cautious at what he would see.

Because, if the rocket didn’t hit him, then what did it hit?

His eyes widened.

A massive crater in the middle of the sidewalk, stretching to their lawn, his, Edd’s and Matt’s lawn, and back onto the road. Fire licked the air, smoke rising from it, causing him to cough like mad.  
The thing was, where were they?

Edd and Matt.

They were right there.

Right. There. Where the crater was. Where the fire was. The smoke rising from it like it was some sort of sick unplanned cremation ceremony for whoever was standing there. Head whipping upwards, he could just about see Tord in the robot, one hand covering his mouth as they both stared at the scene.

Fury rose through him. Anger coursed through his veins as he ducked back into the house, eyes darting around until it landed on what he was looking for. The one thing he had gotten earlier that day, the thing he had traded in that old couch to get.

Dragging it to the doorway, he watched as the giant robot took off, growing smaller and smaller the further it got away. Taking aim, he pointed the sharp object loaded in at the robot, tears prickling in his eyes.

He screamed, pulling the lever as the harpoon shot into the sky, crashing through the back of the robot. He watched, blinking away hot tears that still managed to stray down his cheeks as the massive robot exploded in the air, a small figure sent flying far away along with the rest of the now-useless chunks of the invention.

And yet, he still felt heavy, as he dragged his gaze from the explosion in the sky to the crater in front of their house. He felt hollow, empty, as he watched the fire flicker, smoke wafting around him as he-

 

 

  
-crashed to the ground, the house he had stayed in for so many years with Edd and Matt and Tord too, before the commie had left, falling around him and on him in huge chunks. Heat grazed at his skin, the impact of the rocket crashing into the structure ripping shreds off his arm, as heavy chunks of brick and wood continued to crash down on him, leaving him stuck under a shit ton of wreckage.

Faintly, he could hear Tord’s loud proclamations towards Edd and Matt about going to flee, take over the world, while his friends screamed his name as loud as he could. And fury coursed through him. He could not stay like this. Defeated, lying under the wreck like Tord had crushed him completely, destroying him and wrecking him to shit.

He caught sight of the familiar machine. Fumbling over to it beneath the destruction, he grabbed onto the handles, wincing as pain shot through his body with every movement. He could hear more yelling from outside, then another loud noise, almost like a laser beam had been shot, that made him wonder if that was directed towards Edd and Matt.

That did it. As Tord screamed out a “So long, old friends”, he turned around, breaking through the rubble, hands grasping on the handles of the blue-painted gun.

“ _I-_ ” he spat out, screaming as loud as he could, watching Edd and Matt whip around to stare at him in a mix of bewilderment and relief, “ _-AM NOT YOUR FRIEND!_ ”

The harpoon shot into the sky as he pulled the lever, before crashing through the back of the robot. Loud beeping sounded through the air as the red robot exploded in a blast of _more_ smoke and metal pieces crashing everywhere.

If he squinted, he could make out a faint figure in the distance, along with a parachute, floating down in the air. He grunted, shoving the harpoon gun to the side, as Matt and Edd ran up to him.

At least he hadn’t killed Tord. Good fucking riddance.

 

 

 

And then everything was white.

It was unsettling, eerie, as he watched the scene drain away,

furniture disappearing,

his friends disappearing,

as he-

 

 

-was standing near the door of the house, watching as Tord tossed him one of those weird little sofa things he had, as it expanded, crushing him underneath. Anger flared up inside him as he crawled out, listening to Tord and Matt chortle on about him, repeating “Classic, stupid, Tom!” over and over again until he jumped up, hurling the stupid _fucking_ sofa at the wall as it crashed through, landing on the lawn outside.

“You want my room?” He spat, jabbing a finger at Tord, who looked startled, bewildered by his sudden outburst. “Take it,” he hissed, turning around to stomp out of the door. “This place’s too crowded anyways.”

As he left, growling as he stomped down the street, he vaguely remembered Edd.  
How unsure his friend looked when Tord was laughing at him, how he seemed slightly wary of Tord despite allowing him back in the first place.

It probably didn’t matter, he told himself, continuing to tell himself that over and over until-

He kicked the door down, running into the room that Tord had taken over upon his departure, clutching the telltale poster in his hand that confirmed his worst suspicions about Tord being back for _something_ , only to see Edd, standing in front of Tord, the two staring daggers at each other.

The two people in front of him, startled by the noise the slam of the door had made, stared back, noticing Tom’s presence for the first time. As Tord’s eyes widened, Tom stalked up to him, grabbing him by the collar of his hoodie as he shoved the wanted poster into his face.

“Why,” he hissed, as Edd walked up, his expression a cross between concerned and frustrated, “are you _here?_ ”

Tord’s face was stricken with panic, like he didn’t expect Tom to show up, like he didn’t expect the blue-hoodied man to shove a wanted picture of him into his face just after he had argued with Edd, who had ripped the poster out of Tom’s hand to stare at it in utter horror before steeling his gaze, walking up to Tord, who started to lash out, attempting to break free of Tom’s tight grip, and he-

 

 

-stood in his room, the one Tord had claimed for himself, making quick work of throwing his junk all over the place, watching as Tord rolled his eyes at him. He had found and grabbed a wanted poster, one that had _Tord_ himself on it, before running back to the house to confront the red-hoodied communist.

The same communist who had slammed his fist down on a very noticeable button, warning sirens causing him to flinch as they flooded the room. A weird structure came down from the ceiling, hidden behind metal panels, as it hovered over Tord’s head, opening up to-

Drop an extremely old-fashioned hat on his head. Gesturing to it, he grinned at Tom, who stared at him in utter confusion.

“What did you think I was going to do, summon a giant robot and destroy everything?” Tord remarked, folding his arms. Chuckling, he muttered the phrase he had heard over and over again, “Classic, stupid, Tom”, as he walked past the eyeless man who was still staring at him in shock, hands still clutching the poster he had ripped off a wall earlier.

Another hand pulled the poster out of his grip. Looking up, Tom watched as Tord inspected it, squinting at it in obvious exaggeration before shrugging. Crumpling up the poster into a tiny little paper ball, he tossed it at the side before walking out of the room, whistling an unfamiliar tune as Tom stared at the ball, mind racing.

Tord wasn’t evil. He felt himself relax, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his hoodie as he followed after Tord, stepping out of the room and-

 

 

Why was everything white again?

He felt weird. Light-headed. Not fully processing everything.

He watched as the floor slipped away beneath him, the walls disappearing, the back of the red-hoodied person in front of him vanishing into nothing except the empty void of white as another thing took its place, colour returning, seeping in until-

 

 

-a massive explosion rocked the air, causing another wave of dust, smoke, and hot air to hit him. Raising his arm to try and shield himself from the aftermath of the explosion, he shut his eyes tightly, waiting until he could no longer feel strong gusts whipping at him. _Then,_ he looked up.

Giant chunks of red flew through the air, crashing into the ground. One landed near Matt, who screamed, jumping to the side as Edd watched the wreckage in the sky in disbelief.

A small figure, body-shaped, even, flew downwards, crashing onto the middle of the road nearby along with many, _many_ other pieces of the giant robot that had destroyed their home just moments ago. Abandoning the harpoon gun he was standing behind, Tom limped out of the wreckage, following after Edd and Matt, the former who moved as soon as he watched the figure crash onto the ground, and the latter, who simply followed after the former, memories of whoever the figure was already slipping from his mind.

He simply followed. When he got there, he saw what he had done.

A corpse, dead and burning, mutilated by the wreckage to be almost unrecognisable, skin and clothes stained with red, more red, the red he used to wear on his clothes everyday cheerfully.

He _killed_ him. As Tom listened to Edd cry out, the green-hoodied person remembering nothing except for the more relaxed days from before Tord had abandoned them, leaving them for “the city”, as he watched Matt stare at the corpse with a horrified expression on his face, hands covering over his face in shock and possibly something more, as his lack-of-eyes drifted over the body, taking in every inch of the bloodstained corpse, he turned around.

And he ran. To where, he didn’t know. All he knew was that even if they had hated each other, even if Tord had tried to kill them, he still killed Tord. The man who used to be their friend, who still _was_ their friend in some sort of way. Mind racing, feet stumbling, he just continued to run until-

 

 

  
-stepping in front of Tord, he shoved the sheet of printed paper into the other’s face, watching as his expression changed from something between bored and amused and somewhat taken aback by his sudden presence to utter shock and nervousness. Eyes darted up to make eye contact with Tom’s eyes, or lack-thereof. Tom narrowed his gaze, blocking the path to prevent Tord from stepping into his room, Tom’s room, and Tord’s room too.

“Why are you here?” he spat, demanding an answer from the communist who, for once, seemed at a loss for words. When he didn’t get a reply, he pressed on. “Why are you wanted? What are you here for? Tell me Tord, why are you _here?_ ”

Tord lunged at Tom, who let out a startled shriek as he crashed backwards onto the floor. Dazed, he was vaguely aware of the other person stumbling as he got up, trying to shift past him.

“Oh, no you don’t!” he yelled, reaching out to wrap his hands around Tord’s ankle, forcing him to trip and fall. Before the red-hoodied man could flee again, he bent down, sitting on Tord’s back, essentially trapping him where he was.

As Tord struggled, spitting out curses directed at him, Tom glared down at the sheet of paper in his hand again, before reaching into his hoodie pocket to pull out his phone. Dialling a familiar number, he put the phone up to his ear, listening to Tord screech angrily in the background.

The first few rings. The second few rings. And then-

 

 

Pain.

Everything felt like hell. Was that blood in his mouth? It tasted like it was blood, or maybe it was just iron.

He felt light-headed, weirdly faint, as everything began to slip away. Blinking, everything around him seemed to spin, doubling to show two of the same thing before he shut his eyes, hoping that it would stop the weird haze.

He felt tired. He could hear faint screams, familiar screams – were they from someone he knew? Edd, maybe, and Matt too? The loud noise of a laser beam, the noise of something huge taking off into the sky, and the faint yelling of his name over and over – they all sounded faint. Weirdly faint.

  
He could feel the heavy bricks and objects he was crushed under get pushed off, leaving him feeling lighter than before. As someone held him, screaming at him to do something, open his eyes, _“reply please, Tom, no, you can’t die, Tom! Please-”_

He just felt tired. He wanted the pain to stop. Letting out a small chuckle, he allowed himself to drift off into nothingness, a small void where the pain left him and everything was weirdly warm and then cold, as the faint yells from the people he knew grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared altogether.

 

 

His eyes shot open.

White. Pure white to the point where it was dizzying, like he was walking on a blank canvas in the cheap digital painting software that people used, except that no one ever drew anything so it was just an endless void of white forever. Groaning, he pushed himself up from the ground, standing up, the earlier pain that flooded his senses now forgotten in favour of confusion and discomfort.

He took a step forward, then another, then he started to walk, glancing around for something, just one thing that could signify some sort of life here apart from just himself. His steps made echoes on the ground, footsteps reverberating out behind him as checkered shoes stepped forward again and again and again.

Those scenarios before with Tord, Edd, Matt – what were they?

_You seem to be wondering about those things, eh?_

Startled, he glanced around wildly, seeking for the source of whatever voice had rung out earlier. Hearing a soft sigh, he glared up into the sky, sick and tired of the endless white, white, white-

_Don’t bother trying to search. This isn’t even something you’ll remember in the end._

“Who’re you?” he shouted, trying to seem tough and confident but failing, nervousness seeping into his voice. “And what am I doing here?” he added as an afterthought.

 _What do you mean, ‘what am I doing here’?_ The voice again, almost surprised at him. _You’re here of your own accord, after all._

“What do you mean, of my own accord?” Fury seeped into his voice as he snapped, frustration getting the better of him.

_Think about it._

_Is this really reality, in the end? Do you really think the same scenario can happen again and again, constantly, over and over?_

Silence.

 _No reply, huh?_ A loud sigh seemed to come from everywhere around him, causing him to whip around, again and again, eternally unnerved by everything and yet nothing that was there.

 _It’s pretty funny how you seem to constantly dream of this though,_ the voice continued, switching to a mocking tone. _You say that the incident doesn’t bother you, and yet you constantly go to sleep, dreaming of ways in which it could have been different._

“SHUT UP-”

_Am I really wrong though? You constantly think, if only I was a little faster, if only someone else noticed, if only it was a totally different situation altogether, if only I was dead._

Silence.

_Do you really want him back, in the end? Isn’t that why you dream of this constantly?_

Silence.

The voice didn’t reply. Cracks began to spread throughout the place, pure white giving way to pure black, as the floor below him cracked, sending him falling down into nothingness below.

 

**Author's Note:**

> the process of writing this:  
> -me: i'm nearly at 2.4k  
> -skep: What the fuck  
> -me: btw i finished the seven parts  
> -skep: WHAT THE FUCK
> 
> anyways, uh, i really do hope that you enjoyed the fic. sorry if the ending was pretty vague and, the entire fic was vague too in a way. or just slightly confusing, i guess? either way, if you still don't get it, drop me a comment and i'll try my best to explain the fic c: (i actually wanted to add onto it but i felt like if i did, it'd be kind of out of place)
> 
> also, if you notice any errors or anything, please, do let me know! also, kudos and comments are hella appreciated once again, they really do make my day! (thank you for reading!)


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